The Paths We Must Take
by SparklingDashofEgypt
Summary: When one decision changes everything, will Tris be able to cope with the consequences? This story explores an alternate ending to Allegiant.


Author's Note: I was unhappy, as many of you fans of the Divergent Series were that Tris and Tobias wound up being star-crossed lovers. So I decided to explore the what if. What if Tris hadn't died? What if she had gone on to live a long, full life with Tobias? I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: The Loss

-Tris-

"Okay, so when we get to the lab, Caleb, you'll set up the explosives and go in. Remember, the code for the serum. What is it?" I ask, packing the backpack with everything we need, making sure that we have everything.

"080712," Caleb replies, staring at the backpack. "Are you sure this is going to work?" he asks.

"It has to. If we get stopped, I will do it. I'm Divergent, remember. It's possible that the serum won't work on me and I might have a chance of getting to the serum and releasing it."

Something in Caleb's expression hardens and he nods. "Let's do this. Are you ready, Matthew?"

Matthew looks up from the computer and nods. He glances at the ceiling which is still lit with light. "Why isn't the power off? Cara must have been spotted. We better go now."

I hand Caleb the backpack and slip a gun under the waistband behind my back. I then hand Matthew a gun. "Just in case we need it. Let's go, then."

We slip out into the hallway. At the end of the hall in the direction we need to go, facing away from us, were two guards. "I have an idea. Fire into the air." I whisper at Matthew.

"What?" Matthew whispers back.

"As a distraction. Fire into the air." I repeat. "We'll hide and when they chase you, we'll run in that direction."

"What if they catch me?" Matthew whispers in horror.

"If we release the serum, they won't remember why they captured you." I remind him.

"Oh, right." Matthew looks sheepish.

We hide behind a corner and Matthew fires three times into the air. The guards hear it and run toward him as he runs away. When the coast is clear, we run toward the weapons lab.

Around the corner from the lab, three more guards block our way, pointing guns at us. "Halt, or we'll fire!"

I feel Caleb's hand on my back, reaching for my gun, but I can't do anything to stop him or the guards will shoot. He pulls the gun out and shoots the guards in a move that shocks me. "Caleb what-?"

He points the gun at me, his hands shaking slightly. "I can't let you go in there. Give me the backpack." He orders. "I need you to forgive me for all I've done, and if this is how you will, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"I-" I didn't know what to say. I close my eyes. "Caleb, I-go and I forgive you. Please do this and get this over with." I give him the backpack and hug him fiercely, then give him a gentle push toward the weapons lab.

-Caleb-

My hands shake badly around the gun as I walk steadily toward the weapons lab. I know what I have to do now and my Abnegation upbringing has trained me well. I reach into the backpack and take out the explosives. I step through the doors that Nita tried to break through and plant the bomb on the double doors, clamping it down so it will stay in place. I run as fast as I can and as far as I can, seeing that Tris is doing the same thing. Covering my ears, I press the detonator button.

Even though I cover my ears, the explosion has a concussion affect, almost knocking me off my feet.

Ears ringing, I stumble toward the weapons lab. The cloud of death serum clings to my skin as I enter the lab, dulling my senses and making me want to sleep. I squint through the fog and spot a wheelchair-bound figure. "David?" I gasp, shocked.

"How did you survive the death serum?" David asks coldly, holding a gun in my direction. His casted legs stick out before him.

"I could ask the same thing of you." My Erudite brain can't help itself, especially uninhibited by the death serum. "Most can't survive the serum."

"I inoculated myself against it. But you shouldn't be alive."

I shrug a shoulder, which felt like lifting a ten ton boulder. "I don't know, maybe I'm Divergent like my sister. But you aren't going to stop me from my mission." My eyes find the panel beside David, with a green button.

David glances at the panel I'm looking at. "I won't let you. I'll kill you first." He fires the gun, hitting me in the stomach.

I groan, but the urgency of the mission pushes me forward. I reach the panel and sluggishly punch in the numbers, and slam my hand on the green button. Then I slump to the floor.

The doors on the memory serum hiss open and the serum released, settling over David and the others in the compound. David blinks, looking confused. "Where am I?" he asked as guards come in, looking confused as well.

"What's going on?" the guards asked.

-Tobias-

I race back to the Bureau, anxious to see Tris. But when I arrive, a dark figure is waiting for me, tears streaking down her cheeks. Christina. "Christina, what happened?" I demand, taking her by the shoulders and shaking them. "Is it Tris?"

Christina shook her head. "Caleb!" She gasps. "He was supposed to go in and Tris volunteered, but he stole her gun and went in instead. She's torn up about it because-because-" she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Take me to her." I demand.

Christina led me to the morgue where Tris stands beside Caleb's body, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. She looks up when I enter and buries her face in my chest. "He was my last family." She murmured into my chest.

"I'll be your family now." I murmur, holding her close.

She looks up at me, her lower lip quivering. "Kiss me." She murmurs.

I lean down and fit my mouth to hers. "I love you." I murmur, pulling away.

"I love you too." She rests her head on my chest, just satisfied with holding me.

"We'll get him a good funeral." I promised. "An Abnegation one. Not Erudite."

"Good. Erudite have horrible funerals." An unexpected giggle burst from her chest and she covers her mouth, looking horrified.

"It's okay to laugh. He would want you to laugh." I touch her chin and kiss her softly. "He would want you to love and laugh and be happy."

"I know." She smiles again. "And I will do one of those things regularly again."

"Which one?" I quirk up my eyebrow.

"Guess." She smiles.

I laugh. "I have a feeling I know."


End file.
